Football

Put it on the line: Coaches like look of offensive front

Kansas University’s offensive line — in this case, Jeff SPikes (74), Brad Thorson (76), Sal Capra (59) and Jeremiah Hatch (77) — try to get running back Toben Opurum, center, into the end zone against Texas Tech. All those front-liners return, giving the KU coaching staff high hopes for the unit heading into the fall.

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About this series: This is the first in a series of previews of Kansas University's football team by position. The series will run Wednesdays and Sundays in the Journal-World and on KUsports.com. Coming Sunday: defensive line

Some coaches like size, some like speed and others like quickness.

Photo by Richard Gwin

KU football assistant coach J.B. Grimes works with the offensive line during practice in this file photo from spring drills on April 19.

Kansas University offensive line coach J.B. Grimes prefers intelligence and toughness, at least when it comes to his leaders.

That’s just one reason Grimes, about to enter his first season with the Jayhawks under new head coach Turner Gill, has taken a special liking to returning starters Sal Capra, 6-foot-2, 295 pounds, and Brad Thorson, 6-5, 310.

“Both those guys are really, really smart guys, really tough guys,” Grimes told the Journal-World during a summer breakdown of the position. “You love that combination of character and toughness that goes with those two guys. Brad’s probably a little more vocal than Sal. Sal’s a quiet guy, but when he says something, people listen.”

In many ways, Capra and Thorson — who reportedly broke his foot last week but is expected to return by the start of the season — best embody what this year’s offensive line is all about. Both have logged extensive playing time during their time at Kansas — the two have 24 career starts between them — and both are no-nonsense, team-first guys. The second part of that equation bodes well for them to fit into Gill’s way of doing things. But the first part, well, that’s the part that has Grimes, the rest of the KU coaching staff and even a few national pundits predicting big things for the Jayhawks in 2010.

“There is no substitute for experience,” Grimes said. “You can’t do without it, and there’s only one way to get it. And we’ve got some guys who have played the game quite a bit at the University of Kansas. To have those guys and to know that when they first run out onto that field they’re not going to have a wide-eyed look and they’ll be looking around and knowing what they’re doing, that’s really a comforting feeling.”

Grimes’ comfort with his new hogs does not stop with their experience.

Grimes believes sophomore Tanner Hawkinson is a marquee player.

“I think he’s got an NFL body and all that,” Grimes said. “He’s just a guy that has to get in that weight room and get himself stronger. We’re like that pretty much across the board. We’ve got to get these guys where they’re content with knocking people off the football.”

That skill would be especially useful for juniors Jeff Spikes (6-6, 325) and Jeremiah Hatch (6-6, 332), mountains of men who, under the old regime, appeared to be more comfortable in pass-blocking schemes. According to Grimes, that wasn’t their fault.

“I think this group is probably a little bit ahead of schedule from a pass-blocking standpoint,” Grimes said. “Obviously, that kind of makes sense when you look at how they threw the ball as many times as they did a year ago. Some of that has to do with the physicality. You always have to throw the football, we all know that. What we’ve also got to do is be able to run the football. We can’t just throw young quarterbacks on the field and throw it every down. So we’ve got to develop that mentality to be able to run the ball, and I think we will because they’re smart, and they’re tough guys.”

Behind the first tier, which includes part-time starter Trevor Marrongelli, 6-2, 293, Grimes believes the Jayhawks have plenty of young talent on the O-line. Included in that group are sophomore Duane Zlatnik, 6-4, 326, and red-shirt freshmen Riley Spencer, 6-7, 300, and Gavin Howard, 6-5, 292.

“We’ve got some young guys who have a chance,” Grimes said. “They just need more time. They need to be put in the oven and baked a little while longer. But they’re going to be fine. I think Duane Zlatnik is an outstanding prospect. He’s just not there yet from a comfort-level standpoint. Riley Spencer is a really outstanding talent, and I like Gavin Howard. I think he’s got a chance to be a good player down the line. The great thing about it is, those guys are all young guys.”

Young or not, many of them likely will be thrust into action this fall.

“I think we have six, seven guys we feel pretty good about at this point in time,” Gill said near the end of spring drills. “I’d like to have eight guys on the offensive line that we feel very strong about.”

Added Grimes: “We feel like we’ve got some guys we can win with right now. We’re fairly athletic up front, and that’s something I’ve always liked to have. I don’t like them to necessarily be the biggest guys in the world. If they’re tough enough and smart enough, you’ve got a chance to put a good unit out on the field.”

Didn't Thorson leave Wiskey because he wasn't big enough? And he wasn't comfortable being any bigger than 290? Now he is over 300 solid. And Hatch and Spikes have cranked up the weight. Sounds like the new S&C Staff put them all back in the oven. Now, I think we should see a serious ground game with the likes of Angus and Opurum bulldozing DBs and LBs with newfound running lanes courtesy of a bigger line.

Brad made a size comment a while back, tho the fight where he busted up an OL starter was also doc'd.

The worrisome fact that Coach Grimes alludes to is that we have had really limited OL classes recently. I think Coach mentioned every OL player we have, and some are not quite ready. All the more reason it has been nice to see the '11 OL commits.

Tait, can you make sure that at least one of your articles per week has some quotes from Grimes in it? This guy gave out some classic lines above! I also love the pic of him; he looks just like a grizzly coach that will get after these guys and make them better.

Damn! That's a road-grating front. With Opurum, Angus, Bourbon and Sands, I would be happy running the ball until Mack Brown's boys yell uncle! And then run some more. And then go deep to Omigie. And then make Bo Polini cry. And then run some more.

We know Opurum is a load. We've seen Angus knock a man out! Brandon Bourbon my be the best RB on the team, and Sands is a waterbug.

If the coaches get all this meshed and motivated, the potential is serious.

Damn! That's a road-grating front. With Opurum, Angus, Bourbon and Sands, I would be happy running the ball until Mack Brown's boys yell uncle! And then run some more. And then go deep to Omigie. And then make Bo Polini cry. And then run some more.

We know Opurum is a load. We've seen Angus knock a man out! Brandon Bourbon my be the best RB on the team, and Sands is a waterbug.

If the coaches get all this meshed and motivated, the potential is serious.

I'm a Sims fan. He's impressive. But I'm thinking red-shirt. I'm trying to figure out how he gets on the field with Bourbon in his way. I mean BB seems to be a guy Turner Gill wanted badly. He's bigger, faster and has incredible vision. He's a 4 star, Sims is a 3. His position rating is 29, Sims is 51.

And then there is Angus, a powerful, bloodthirsty 6th-year senior. TG seems to like him. Don't forget that Angus was a 3 star out of Texas too. Now he's 23 years old and he runs a sub 4.5 at 230lbs. In his only legit opportunity, he averaged 5.2/carry, leading the team. (Just for the hell of it, here are a few names that Angus has played with at KU. Charlton Keith, Jason Swanson, Mark Simmons, Brian Luke, Ried, Kane, Floodman etc..) He's practically a KU legend, and he's the patriarch of the team. If he becomes the leading rusher this year, I won't be the least bit surprised.

Opurum was a 4 star from Texas, and obviously has the inside track for the most carries.

Sands has burned his red shirt already. He's also the only guy in the main group that is under 6 feet tall. Sims would have to beat out 3 other guys that are in his physical mold, while Sands will find his niche as a change of pace guy.

Glad to hear that our offensive line is looking solid. I don't think they will be dominate against a Nebraska D-line...but it's good to hear they are looking above average.

Now on to a more concerning topic. What about our D-line...which ranked toward the end of all college football D-1 lines. If our D-line doesn't improve...then we could be in for another long season. We all know how it feels to watch the opposing QB over the past two years have 6, 7, and sometime 8 or 9 seconds to sit back and find a receiver. Our defense starts with the line...and boy I hope we see some improvement.

Rivethead - I would underestimate Bourbon...the kid is a mack truck with some serious speed.

"Glad to hear that our offensive line is looking solid. I don't think they will be dominate against a Nebraska D-line...but it's good to hear they are looking above average."

You mean the same line that man handled Nebraska's D-line last year can't AGAIN dominate them this year without their best player by far around anymore? Ummm....OK

Our D definitely lost that ball game, not the O-line who did better against them than any other O-line in the Big 12, including Texas, IMO.

Also, everyone is so hyped about Bourbon because he tests out of this world in all the football camp testing (I believe he was one of the highest scoring players ever tested at one camp even) and he was a late switch commitment that buoyed a lot of people's spirits after our highly rated instate commitment switched to OU, while Sims kind of quietly committed to us back in July of last year. But rivet is right in that Sims is also a big time athlete with tons of potential to be a stud for us at RB. He's no average RB and he's got just as much of a chance to be a star on this team as Bourbon does. We got 2 extremely talented young RB's who committed to us back in February. It'll be exciting to see how they both develop.

Second over-all NFL draftee Suh, had 3 tackles vs Kansas last year. Not three sacks, not three for losses, just three tackles. Crick did not have a very good game either, and I believe it was probably a lot of scheming to do that, but, hey, look what they did vs Texas in the Big 12 title game??? I think this O-line will do fine, as long as we are not to one dimentional, and I mean that by trying to run the ball over and over. I am more concerned over who will make the right play at QB and can make the throw when needed.

I don't know about you all, but I'm still more that hype on that guy we used last year so sparingly. What was his name? Oh yeah, TOBEN.

In an online chat last year, I asked him which scenario did he prefer:
(A) slamming into the pile and moving it for a 2 yard TD, or
(B) knocking the ever-living daylights out of an unsuspecting LB in a run block.

His answer still makes me "al-dente": He chose "B". I can't wait to see us run an "I" or "power" set this year. Opurum can not only bruise for yards, he can bruise for other people's yards. He takes pride in both and that, as much as anything bodes well for our ground game this year... especially with a wall of 6-4 or 5, 300+ hogmollies doing their job.

The running game is a simple one, with simple mathematics: if each lineman can eliminate one d-lineman and one can get to the strong inside or middle backer, all the FB has to do is put the OLB out of position (or better yet, level the fool) and all of a sudden your RB is wreaking havoc in the secondary. I don't care which of our backs is carrying the ball, but I'll take that matchup on a DB any day.

just on a side-note.
phil ford (bishop miege Offensive lineman) just committed to KU.
from his facebook:"Phil Ford I committed to tha KU jayhawks today ayyyy I am a jayhawk!!!"
good news just keep coming.